We have spent the last several weeks looking through the Scriptures
to discover who Jesus is and what he did and why. We have seen him as
the submissive one. We've seen him as both God and man in the same
being, fused, if you will. We have seen him as Savior. But today we
advance our portrait of Jesus Christ by declaring that the Scriptures
reveal him as the only Savior of the world.
I was interacting with a college student a couple years ago about the
Christian faith, and she finally said in exasperation, "You
know, the problem with you is you don't just believe Jesus is your
Savior, you believe he is the Savior of the world."
The claims from Scripture are compelling in this regard. Jesus
identified himself as one with the Father (John
10:30). In the John
14 passage, he is preparing his disciples for his departure, for
his crucifixion. He says, "I'm going to prepare a place for you,
and where I go, you will follow."
And they said, "But how can we know where you are going? We
don't know the way."
And he said, "Ah-hah! But I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It's as
clear a statement as Jesus ever made on the subject.
The disciples, in pondering and proclaiming that truth after his
resurrection and ascension, in their early sermons, declared that we
have no other means of salvation; no other name has been given to
humanity by which we would be saved except the name of Jesus Christ (Acts
4:12).
But there is a far more poignant moment, I think, early in the
Gospel of John. Curious people would follow the rabbi of the day,
soak up their teaching and then move on to another rabbi. There were
many such followers of Jesus, early in his ministry. And as they
began to hear his exclusive claims and watched his miracles, they
came to crises of faith, and many of them departed, leaving his fellowship.
In John
6 starting at verse 66, John recounts, "From this time,
many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"Jesus said, 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' to the twelve.
"But Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that that
you are the holy one of God.'"
That affirmation rings throughout the four Gospels, and it is against
those claims that the contemporary complaints are lodged. It is the
prevailing view of our culture that those who believe Jesus is the
only way to salvation are arrogant and intolerant. "Who are you
to tell me Christianity is the only way to salvation?"
And so let us look at the alternatives. We live in a world where
theological pluralism challenges Christ's claims. Here's what
pluralism is. It's the view that all religions are equally valid as
ways to God. There are differences among the religions, but they are
superficial. They do not matter. They all lead to the same goal. I'm
sure you've heard the illustration of a mountain and the claim,
"There are many different paths to the top of the mountain.
Christianity is only one." I remember first hearing that in my
seventh grade Sunday School class, taught by a Jesuit. Amazing!
But here's why relativism is appealing. First of all, we live in an
unprecedented age in which we are global citizens. We are aware of
the whole world, and we recognize that many of the planet's problems
can only be solved by cooperation and harmony. I'm thinking about
ecological concerns and some of the economic considerations that
affect the way we do business. So, more than ever, we are aware of
the globe, of the planet, and all its different people.
We also have a more clear and intimate knowledge and appreciation of
the world's religions. I mean, really, twenty years ago, who would
have ever heard of the Taliban's extremist beliefs, remotely
positioned as they are in the mountains of Afghanistan? Technology
and communications of a global nature have enabled us to become aware
of and even to study world religions all over the globe.
But there is a third reason also. This is what John Stott calls
"post-colonial modesty." (Stott, The Contemporary Christian,
IVP 1992, p. 300). As you know, I lived in Africa for several months
in 1994. Zimbabwe is a largely Christian nation because of the
Christian witness of the British who colonized southern Africa for
over a hundred years or more. There is a shyness now about doing that
now because of what happened: the English converted the locals
to Christianity from indigenous animism, spiritism and other pagan
religions. Having been accused of damaging a culture with religious
imports, the church has gotten cold feet about sharing her faith cross-culturally.
And so the idea of relativism is appealing in that context.
But there are problems with relativism. If we are to take seriously
the claims of relativism that all religions are equally valid ways to
God, that their differences are only superficial and they don't
matter, we immediately run into a logical problem. The religions of
the world make competing claims that cannot all be true
simultaneously. If we were to assert that all religions of the world
are true, we would immediately run into what's called cognitive
dissonance because they believe different things about Jesus, about
God himself, and about the condition of humanity. We immediately
suffer from religious schizophrenia if we hold all of those to be
true at the same time.
Let's just take some examples.
Regarding Jesus Christ's identity, Muslims regard Jesus as a great
prophet but certainly not divine, and Mohammed was the greatest
prophet. As another example, Christian Scientists deny that Jesus was
fully human and fully divine. They deny that he died for sin, which
doesn't exist except in the minds of those who cannot overcome
negative thinking. Jews recognize Jesus as a great prophet, but he
was not the Messiah. Their category of Messiah did not include
crucifixion; therefore, Jesus could not be recognized as the Messiah.
The world's religions don't even agree on something as basic as God
or the Ultimate Reality, if you prefer that term. Hindus are
pantheists, that is, they believe God is in everything, or perhaps
polytheists, believing in many gods. Some Buddhists are atheists -
they do not believe in a God - others are pantheists; it depends on
the branch of Buddhism. Muslims are theists; they believe in one God
passionately, Allah is one, but do not believe in the Trinity.
Christians are theists. We believe in God, but we are Trinitarian. We
believe in Father, Son and Spirit, the Godhead, three in one. All of
these views of the reality of God cannot be true at the same time.
The great religions of the world do not agree on the basic condition
of humanity, nor on the remedy for it. Hindus see humanity as
fundamentally divine in nature, but trapped in this world due to
ignorance and bad karma. Deliverance comes from changing our beliefs
about reality, and our true identity. The remedy is in our changing ourselves.
Buddhists see human beings as trapped in this world of suffering due
to selfish desire. So the remedy comes from extinguishing desire, or
seeking the aid of supernatural beings to do that.
Muslims believe persons are weak but not sinful in nature, and under
God's judgment for one's disobedience to God's laws. Salvation comes
through submitting to the laws of God. Islam means submission.
Christians, by contrast, believe that we are alienated from God and
under his judgment due to our sinful rebellion against God. But
salvation can only come as a result of trusting in what he has
graciously provided in Jesus Christ his Son, who died for our sins as
an atoning sacrifice, and our behavior we submit to the power of his
Holy Spirit to change us from within.
Relativism, intellectually and logically, is a very hard position to
hold. But relativism also raises the question of how we know
what is true. Now this is a whole other really big topic we'll have
to cover another time, but just to illustrate, in the opening
question and answer period of our moderatorial candidates at General
Assembly last June, the man who was eventually elected to that
position was asked point blank, "Do you believe that Jesus is
the only Savior of the world?"
And he said, "Yes, Jesus is the only Savior, as far as we
know," which casts doubt on the truth and the sufficiency of our
Scriptures which claim to tell us all we need in order to find Jesus
Christ as our Savior.
John, in his Gospel in Chapter
20, said - this as kind of a summary statement, "Jesus did
many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which
are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ is the son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name."
What we've been told is true, and it hasn't been misleading, and what
it has said is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus'
way is absolutely unique. Only Christianity presents and proclaims
Jesus Christ as Savior for the world. Only Christianity deals with
the problem of sin. Though other religions suggest ways that a person
can make up for weakness, there is no concept of atonement or
redemption in any other religion than Christianity.
And the most unique feature of the Christian gospel is the cross. The
cross of Jesus Christ, raising the son of God in humiliation and pain
and punishment. Clearly the cross is what separates the Christ of
Christianity from any other Jesus one might imagine.
In Judaism, there is no precedent for a Messiah who dies, much less
as a criminal as Jesus did. In Islam, the story of Jesus' death is
rejected as an affront to Allah. Hindus can accept only a Jesus who
passes into peaceful samadi, a yogi who escapes the degradation of
death. There is, in short, no room in other religions for a Christ
who experiences the full burden of mortal existence all the way to
death. It does not compute. And since Christ's death on the cross
does not compute, there is no reason to believe in him as the divine
Son of God whom the Father resurrects from the dead. And so the cross
and the resurrection together are the unique core of the gospel that
is offered to the world. The hope we have resides in the one who
acknowledges our sin and died for it and rose from the dead as a sign
of his victory over all that is evil, dead and sinful.
Jesus is the way. Jesus' claim is also absolutely true.
Because he is one with the Father, he makes that claim in today's
passage. "If you really knew me, you would know my Father
as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
And so the conclusion is, if God himself has spoken to us, it must be
true. He did not come to make a contribution to theological thought.
He came as God in the flesh to be and to do, to embody human need and
the divine solution for our sin. "If you have seen me, you have
seen the Father. I have told you what God said to you. I told you
what God said to you in order that you would have eternal life."
Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the life. His way
leads to eternal life. It doesn't lead to anything but eternity
joyfully in God's presence; not subsumed into God's identity, not
vaporized into some cosmic entity, but as individuals, souls on fire
for Jesus Christ. They are worshipping and bowing before the throne
of grace. That is eternal life.
And so we come back. Is Jesus my Savior? Yes. But he is more than my
Savior. He is more than your Savior. He is the Savior of the world.
Dale Bruner, a professor of religion at Whitworth College, struggled
with this difference between the two, Jesus my Savior versus Jesus
the Savior of the world. He was speaking at a conference. He was
speaking in the morning and another speaker was proclaiming in the
evening, and it turns out they were contradicting each other. He
said, "You know, it's really bad form for speakers at the shame
conference to contradict each other," so he was in prayer all
week about how to resolve this issue. And here is his summary
statement after that conference. He said, "I have described
myself as a Christo-centrist, meaning Jesus is the center of my life.
But now I realize that that is not an adequate answer. I realize I am
a Christo-exclusivist. The other speaker is absolutely
Christ-centered. She loves the Lord Jesus Christ. No question about
it. But I have come to realize this week that for me, Christ is not
only the center, he is also the circumference. He is the only way to
the responsible knowledge of or participation in saving truth."
Christ is exclusive. And so the term that Dale Bruner coined, which I
really love, is the "inclusive exclusivity" of Christ. He
uses the image of Jesus' arms outstretched on the cross to signify
Christ embracing the whole world with his love. The gospel is for
everyone. The gospel is for sinners. The gospel is for the people we
don't like. The gospel is for people of all colors, of all languages,
of all cultures, of all religious backgrounds. The gospel of Jesus
Christ, the invitation to eternal life in Christ, is given to all.
And that is the inclusivity of the gospel. But the invitation is real
clear and real specific. The gospel, salvation in Jesus Christ, is
possessed, is grabbed hold of by trusting in Jesus Christ and him alone.
Now the way I see it, the gospel is not intolerant or arrogant. It is
mercifully clear. God has not played games with the world's people.
God has not played dodgeball through the ages by saying, "Well
this week, if you believe in Buddha, that's okay. Next week I think
maybe it will be the Hindus' turn." No. He has not given a
confusing message. God's message has been clear, that salvation is
found in Jesus Christ alone, and we would be cold and have no
compassion if we shared anything less than that joyful proclamation
of the gospel. It is not intolerance. It is compassion for the lost
of the world to share Jesus as our only Savior and Lord.
The good news is this: you can stop looking for a Savior. You've
found him in Christ. There is no other. You can rest now and breathe
a sigh of relief. You've found the one who will lead you to eternal
life. Jesus is the way. We need no other. We don't need any insurance
policies; we don't need any redundancy, as Martin Luther so
wonderfully and basically said, "We've put all our eggs in one
basket. Our hope resides entirely in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross."
We need no other. The world needs no other, and you need no other. By
saying that Jesus is Savior of the world, we are not saying that he
isn't your personal Savior. He's my personal Savior. It's a personal
relationship Jesus desires with each one of us. It is a personal
transaction of faith. It is a personal invitation.
Is Jesus my Savior? Absolutely! Is he the Savior of the world? Yes.
He proclaimed it and we have joined the chorus. In the confusion of
this world, we can believe and trust that Jesus embodies the truth.
We are not shy about saying that there is such a thing as absolute
truth, and Jesus is it. He knows the truth about us, and he knows the
truth about salvation. So we need not fear, because Jesus has assured
us that life cannot be taken away from us; even if this body dies,
yet shall we live in Christ with our heavenly Father.
Now if you believe and trust in Jesus, embrace him today. This is the
day in which we get the picture of his love. We see the cross behind
me, and before me, lifted up as a sign of hope for this world.
Embrace it. Receive him. Believe him. Trust in him. And proclaim him.
We do not need to be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of
God unto salvation. Let us experience that power and share it. The
world needs to know.
Amen.
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